As I looked in my Methodist Hymnal last Sunday I looked for one of my favorites. It’s Christmas and this particular hymn stirs my Christmas spirit. I don’t know why I thought it would be nested among the Christmas carols, but it wasn’t. I found it among those dedicated to “Missions.” The hymn is “Pass It On.”

Click on the link in the post to read about the Chrismon symbols.

It was in admiring the beautiful Chrismon tree in the front of the sanctuary, remembering how much my mother-in-law loved and took childlike delight in creating and contributing ornaments for that very special tree, that I could only think of “Pass It On.” I wondered if hers were still on it. She’s been gone for eleven years. Just like families keep ornaments for years, certainly hers hang from that tree. I must add that Rick and I now attend that same church where she originated a very popular Sunday school class that is the largest in the church, and where her handmade decorations hang. She passed on her gifts in a memorable way.

I know her ornaments must hang from this tree.

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My good friend, Patrice and I had breakfast Wednesday morning. You may recognize her name on my site. Faithfully, she comments on my every post in a way that touches me. Thank you, Patrice. In high school we were casual friends, hung around similar crowds and yes, we were even in a beauty pageant together. Years went by, no, make that decades, and we never connected. Then at our 40th reunion in 2008 we reconnected. There we discovered we only lived ten minutes apart in another state far from where we had graduated from high school! She was a recent grandmother for the first time, so was I. Then her precious grand-twins came along and so did grandson #2. We continued to meet for lunch, play dates with grandchildren, and last Wednesday breakfast. I admire Patrice for her passionate love of family and her friends. Her children are so accomplished. Lawyer. Doctor. And, just last weekend a Doctor in Music! Not only do we meet personally, but connect on Facebook to share family photos. She is a leader in our class of ’68 communicating with every class member she can. It’s rooted in a deep love for her school, the town where we met in Florida, and all her friends.

Patrice and me, having our own Christmas breakfast last Wednesday.

I brought gifts to our planned breakfast together, care packages for our homeless that live on the streets of Houston. Our small town church had made gallon bags of food items to be distributed. Her heart is so big, I knew she would recognize just the person who would need them. She has a heart for perceiving need and giving, always giving. I knew she could and would pass them on.
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A special thing that I very much wanted to pass on was caroling around the piano at Christmas. Those who play from a repertoire of music have a wonderful gift to be able to accompany carolers. Wanting this to become a Christmas tradition, and because I can’t accompany to live singing, I purchased a Wurlitzer player piano years ago and QRS paper rolls galore to go with it. The girls learned to really play and when my brother comes to visit, he also, sits down to play his tunes. Yet, I smile when I hear someone in the household snap a roll into place, push the button, listen to it whir up and out comes the familiar carol they want to hear.

Yes, this is a player piano.

“Frosty the Snowman” coming up.

Our Wurlitzer comes through when we don’t know the music.

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In writing this post, I have the warmest thoughts and best wishes for all my blogging friends for a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year. Thank you for passing it on — warming my days, weeks, months and past four years in our community. I look forward to the conversation, read your posts, and want to thank you for the inspiration that fills my writing journals and these posts. You pass it on in a host of ways. I invite you to click on the following and sing along with the instrumental. The words are provided.